God Is a Friend (6)
Experiencing God’s Friendship Together
John 14:6-14; John 13:34, 35; 1 John 1:5-7; 1 John 3:16
Jim Davis
Jim Davis
In the Chicago Tribune Magazine actor Kyle Chandler was asked a series of finish-the-sentence questions.
One question was, "I'd give anything to meet___."
Chandler answered, "God Almighty. I'd like to share my favorite meal with him, and I'd let him do all the talking."
Such an offer is open to Chandler. Revelation 3:20 states: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
Sadly the modern day approach to finding a church is to find a church that satiates our appetites. Fellowship with God has become secondary. When this happens it wields a death blow to reason, judgment and God’s discipline. You will never discover satisfaction without a determination to serve God where you are in spite of your circumstances—despite how people act around you. Some form of satisfaction doesn't even stand a chance unless one settles down at a place and serves.
True Christian fellowship is discovered as "One sits and serves with the same people week after week, receiving and being received, disappointing and being disappointed, hurting and being hurt, caring and being cared for. Church people are in it for the long haul, not the short term. The ordinary is more crucial than the extraordinary. The glory of church is the routine, not the exceptional." (C. John Weborg in The Covenant Companion (Nov.l989). Christianity Today, Vol. 34, no. 1.)
Sadly in the past Christian fellowship resembled a castle with a mote around it to keep strangers out. It was almost as if there was a moat around the church, separating it from the world. Everyone was welcome to come inside, sing the old songs, and hear the old stories. Everyone was welcome to seek the presence of the living God. In the church, ordinary rules were suspended for a time. People were free to say what they believed and use language that would sound strange if it were spoken anywhere else. There they confessed their sins, praised God, and ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When the service ended, the drawbridge went up, and there was another week to wait until it came back down again. Everyone knew that the words we used on Sunday morning were not appropriate on Monday. Words that sounded just right in the bosom of the community sounded strange, stark, and a little assertive when spoken on the street. When we uttered them, we felt exposed. We started something we didn't know how to finish. The words want a response, and almost no one was responding. (This story about the drawbridge type of fellowship is not original. I adapted it to fit. The source is unknown.)
Christ Revealed the Nature of Christian Fellowship
When the incarnate Christ descended to this world to reveal to us the very nature of God, he did it through his relationship with those around him. Jesus told Philip, "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." Jesus didn’t come with a doctrinal discourse on the attributes of God. He merely exemplified the attributes of God in his relationship with those around him.
John 14:6-14
6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."8 Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9 Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. NIV
God’s friendship is expressed in the practical expression of God’s love toward his people. Jesus gave his disciples a new command saying, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35 NIV)
1 John 3:16-18
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. NIVGod’s friendship is demonstrated through Christian fellowship. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."
There is no substitute for flesh-and-blood relationship with Christ if we are to understand ourselves and grow as a community of God’s people. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Let [the person] who cannot be alone beware of community. Let [the person] who is not in community beware of being alone." No man should be alone when he opposes Satan. The church and the ministry of the Word were instituted for this purpose, that hands may be joined together and one may help another. If the prayer of one doesn't help, the prayer of another will.
If we can’t see Jesus in one another, we will not be able to share him with others. There are times when together we discover that we make up a single body, that we belong to each other and that God has called us to be together as a source of life for each other.
A sea captain and his chief engineer were arguing over who was most important to the ship. To prove their point to each other, they decided to swap places. The chief engineer ascended to the bridge, and the captain went to the engine room. Several hours later, the captain suddenly appeared on deck covered with oil and dirt. "Chief!" he yelled, waving aloft a monkey wrench. "You have to get down there: I can't make her go!" "Of course you can't," replied the chief. "She's aground!" On a team we don't excel each other; we depend on each other.
Likewise Christian fellowship is difficult to maintain when we overestimate our individual importance. Human relationships are not always easy to maintain. People in the church are like porcupines in a snowstorm. We need each other to keep warm, but we prick each other if we get too close.
A visiting evangelist was used to eating at many church potlucks. In a small-town Kansas church, the preacher suggested a 10-year-old boy be the host to a visiting evangelist. The youngster took his task seriously. He introduced him to everyone, and then took him to the food table.
Jeremy commented on each casserole. "You'll want some of that and that," he said, pointing. Then looking at another dish, "Trust me. Skip that one." They got near the end of the table when he said, "My mom brought that." When the evangelist asked him if it was good, he said, "The recipe has been in the family for years. Passed down from one bad cook to another."
Wherever our life touches others, we help or hinder ... wherever your life touches others, you make them stronger or weaker. ... There is no escape--man drags man down, or man lifts man up.
Each Christian is a temple of the Holy Spirit, a person in whom Christ actually dwells. But how often we sit next to other believers, eat with them, sing with them, yet, fail to see we've been in the presence of Christ himself.
One of the greatest expressions of love is simply to notice people and to pay attention to them.
True fellowship can only be found in the church. Karl Barth, the famous theologian, was on a streetcar one day in Basel, Switzerland, where he lectured. A tourist to the city climbed on and sat down next to Barth. The two men started chatting with each other. "Are you new to the city?" Barth inquired. "Yes," said the tourist. "Is there anything you would particularly like to see in this city?" asked Barth. "Yes," he said, "I'd love to meet the famous theologian Karl Barth. Do you know him?" Barth replied, "Well as a matter of fact, I do. I give him a shave every morning." The tourist got off the streetcar quite delighted. He went back to his hotel saying to himself, "I met Karl Barth's barber today."
Many come to church and take a seat beside Christ himself, but they never recognize it. Christ’s presence is real for where two are gathered in his name he is present. He is also present in those your are sitting next to—they may not reflect the perfect image of Christ you wish them too, but Christ does live in them—howbeit it imperfect.
Walking in fellowship with God’s children involves being married to Christ. The New Testament often speaks of Christ church as the bride of Christ. Christ is the bride groom. We must see the intimate relationship of our lives with Christ as we lay down our lives for those who make up Christ’s church.
Just as husband and wife live out their lives against the backdrop of being married, so do we live out the entirety of our lives against the backdrop of a constant relationship with God. He is always there, always loving us, always ready to listen to us. As we recognize his unwavering commitment to us, we are able to live in the day to day adventure and challenge of his presence. We enjoy the dialogue. It's as if we say, "Oh, I must talk to him about this!" (John Guest in Only a Prayer Away. Christianity Today, Vol. 40, no. 2.)
A missionary was serving in Paraguay, a Maka Indian named Rafael came to sit on his porch. The missionary was eating and went out to see what he wanted. He responded, "Ham, henek met." Again he asked what he could do for him, but the answer was the same. He understood what he was saying but not its significance: "I don't want anything; I have just come near."
The missionary later shared the incident with a local veteran missionary. He explained that it was Rafael's way of honoring him. He really didn't want anything; he just wanted to sit on my porch. He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near me.
"What brings you here, my child?" the Lord asks.
"Ham, henek met."
Doesn't that reveal the heart of true worship?
We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.
The First Christian Fellowship
Community ... means people who have to learn how to care for each other.
First Christians not only continued in apostles, but they continued in fellowship.
Acts 2:42-47
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. NIVWhen a Christian couldn't sell his home after a move, he decided to rent it out. Twice in three years, tenants broke the lease and skipped town after trashing the place, leaving my friend with thousands of dollars in repairs.
He tried to sell the house again, and it sat on the market for months while he made mortgage payments he couldn't afford. His credit cards maxed out, foreclosure became a possibility, and his stress was sky-high.
When he told friends at church about his problem, they responded in a big way. Within 48 hours:
A Couples’ Bible study gave him and his wife a check that more than covered their next mortgage payment, giving them more time to sell the house.
His Sunday school teacher--a realtor and financial adviser--prayed with him and his wife, encouraging them and offering wise counsel.
A church elder--an attorney my friend could never afford--spent 90 minutes on the phone with him, giving solid advice.
He friend was striking out, and the church stepped up to the plate. But it never could have happened if he hadn't put his pride aside and made his needs known.
They shared not only their lives but their goods.
Acts 4:32-37
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34 There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet. NIV
The fellowship of the body is always two-way; receiving and giving. Wanting only to receive is not fellowship. We may not be preachers, but when we come to worship we nevertheless bring what we have. There must be help of the pulpit from the pew. Sitting and looking on will not do. We must give others to drink, not necessarily by speaking, but maybe by quiet prayer. ... Every member of the Body has a ministry, and every member is called to function in the place appointed by the Lord. It makes no difference who does the work if the glory is Christ. However, fellowship breaks down when we seek God’s glory for ourselves
Acts 5:1-6
5:1 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet.3 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. NIV
Fellowship breaks down when we are afraid of serving those within the fellowship. The disciples refused to wash one another’s feet. Someone said, "Jesus, my feet are dirty. Come even as a slave to me, pour water into your bowl, come and wash my feet. In asking such a thing I know I am overbold, but I dread what was threatened when you said to me, ‘If I do not wash your feet I have no fellowship with you.’ Wash my feet then, because I long for your companionship."
Fellowship is hindered when we preach strife and division to gain personal prestige.
Philippians 1:15-18
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. NIVThis type of attitude reveals that our carnal nature is in control.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4
3:1 Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly-mere infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? NIVConclusion:
Peace is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God. The presence of God in our fellowship when there is trouble reveals God’s friendly presence to a lost world.
A man went to an asylum for the criminally insane. He was a bit surprised to find that there were three guards to take care of a hundred inmates. He said to one of the guards, "Aren't you afraid that the inmates will unite, overcome you, and escape?" The guard said "Lunatics never unite." Locusts do. Christians should. If we don't, we don't know where our power is.
The purpose of the church is to provide a nonjudgmental, relevant atmosphere; to introduce people to a personal, dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ; to encourage personal growth through teaching, caring, and sharing.
Unless and until we can live with ourselves, we cannot live with other people. But equally, unless and until we have learnt to live fully and creatively with others we cannot hope to live with ourselves.